BEST decides not to charge bus ticket fares from migrants

MUMBAI: The Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) on Friday announced that no ticket fares will be charged from migrant labourers when buses are made available for dropping them at the city railway stations for their journey to their home states.

A BEST spokesperson said that the decision was taken as per the directives of the Supreme Court.

The apex court on Thursday directed that no fare for travel either by trains or buses be charged from the migrant workers stranded across the country, and they be provided food and water.


Till Thursday, the BEST was charging regular fares from the migrants as per the distance for dropping them at the railway stations, he said.

The Mumbai Police have also been arranging special buses for ferrying the registered migrants to the railway stations.

The Railway Ministry has been running Shramik special trains to carry the stranded migrants to their native places since May 1, 2020.

The BEST is over a century old public transport body, which has a fleet of more than 3,500 buses. During its normal days of operations, it ferries around 35 lakh commuters everyday.